Ill woman holds party before ending lifeSAN DIEGO -- In early July, Betsy Davis emailed her closest friends and relatives to invite them to a two-day party, telling them: "These circumstances are unlike any party you have attended before, requiring emotional stamina, centeredness and openness." And just one rule: No crying in front of her. The 41-year-old artist with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, held the gathering to say goodbye before becoming one of the first Californians to take...

1st half of 2016 blows away temp recordsThe first half of 2016 has blown away temperature records, capped off by a record hot June, once again bumping up the odds that 2016 will be the hottest year on record globally, according to data recently released. The monthly numbers from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts the planet on track to surpass 2015 as the hottest on record. "2016 has really blown that out of the water," Gavin Schmidt, the director of N...

US-Turkish tensions rise after failed coup attempt LUXEMBOURG — U.S.-Turkish tensions escalated Saturday after a quashed coup in Turkey, as the country's leader bluntly demanded the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric he accused of orchestrating the violence. Another senior official directly blamed the United States. After strongly supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when it seemed his government might topple and then opening the door to sending home the cleric, a stung Obama admi...

84 dead, 202 hurt in Bastille Day attackNICE, France -- As new details emerged Friday about the Tunisian man who drove a truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and wounding 202 others, French leaders extended a state of emergency imposed after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks and vowed to deploy thousands of police reservists on the streets. French officials called it an undeniable act of terror, but no group claimed responsibility and it wasn't clear if t...

Truck slams into revelers in Nice, France, at least 77 dead NICE, France — A truck loaded with weapons and hand grenades drove onto a sidewalk for more than a mile, plowing through Bastille Day revelers who'd gathered to watch fireworks in the French resort city of Nice late Thursday. At least 77 people were killed before police killed the driver, authorities said. Nice prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre described a horrific scene, with bodies strewn about along the roadway and Sylvie Toffin, a press office...

Deadliest attack in a year kills 115 in central Baghdad BAGHDAD — A devastating truck bombing on a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad killed 115 people early Sunday, brutally underscoring the Islamic State group's ability to strike the capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country. It was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency, and it fueled anger toward Prime Minister Haide...

Court upholds net neutrality rules on equal internet access WASHINGTON — In a big win for the Obama administration, a federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the government's "net neutrality" rules that require internet providers to treat all web traffic equally. The 2-1 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is a victory for consumer groups and content companies such as Netflix that want to prevent online content from being blocked or channeled into fast and slow la...

Earthquake kills 238 in Ecuador; emergency workers rush inPEDERNALES, Ecuador — Rescuers pulled survivors from rubble Sunday after the strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast. Officials said the quake had killed at least 238 people and injured more than 1,500. The magnitude-7.8 quake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979, was centered on Ecuador's sparsely populated fishing ports and tourist beaches, 105 miles (170 kilometers)...

Bill aimed at N. Korea weapons programWASHINGTON — Seeking to derail North Korea’s drive for nuclear weapons, senators set aside their partisan differences on Wednesday to support legislation aimed at starving Pyongyang of the money it needs to build an atomic arsenal. The Senate is scheduled to vote later Wednesday on a bill to impose more stringent sanctions on North Korea. But there appears to be no opposition after a series of floor speeches by Republicans and Democrats who re...

Study finds clue in Zika virus outbreakWASHINGTON — New details about the possible effects of the Zika virus on the fetal brain emerged Wednesday as U.S. health officials say mosquito eradication here and abroad is key to protect pregnant women until they can develop a vaccine. European researchers uncovered an extremely abnormal brain — not only a fraction of the proper size but lacking the usual crinkly neural folds — in a fetus whose mother suffered Zika symptoms at the end of t...

The failure of multiculturalismJust as radar warns of approaching storms, so does the flood of migrants entering Europe warn us of a deluge yet to come, not only for Europeans, if they continue to allow unrestricted immigration, but for the United States. Reports that women in Cologne, Germany, have been groped and robbed by men described by authorities as having “a North African or Arabic” appearance should be warning enough, but there are other and more ominous warnings t...

Bones of hunted mammoth show early human presence in Arctic NEW YORK — The remains of a mammoth that was hunted down about 45,000 years ago have revealed the earliest known evidence of humans in the Arctic. Marks on the bones, found in far northern Russia, indicate the creature was stabbed and butchered. The tip of a tusk was damaged in a way that suggests human activity, perhaps to make ivory tools. With a minimal age estimate of 45,000 years, the discovery extends the record of human presence in the ...

Rickman made his career by being deliciously wickedLONDON — Alan Rickman made wickedness delicious. Reviewing Rickman’s breakout role as a scheming hedonist aristocrat in the play “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Guardian newspaper critic Nicholas de Jongh likened the actor to “a cat who knows the way to the cream.” Rickman, who died of cancer Thursday aged 69, went on to become one of the great Hollywood villains of the last 30 years. With his rich, languid voice and subtly expressive face, Rickma...

Alan Rickman, star of stage and 'Harry Potter' dies at 69 LONDON — British actor Alan Rickman, a classically-trained stage star and sensual screen villain in the "Harry Potter" saga and other films, has died. He was 69. Rickman's family said Thursday that the actor had died after a battle with cancer. Trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Rickman was often cast as the bad guy; with his rich, languid voice he could invest evil with wicked, irresistible relish. His breakout role was...

Legendary musician David Bowie dies of cancer at 69 NEW YORK — David Bowie, the other-worldly musician who broke pop and rock boundaries with his creative musicianship, nonconformity, striking visuals and a genre-spanning persona he christened Ziggy Stardust, died of cancer Sunday. He was 69 and had just released a new album. Bowie, whose hits included "Space Oddity," ''Fame," ''Heroes" and "Let's Dance," died "peacefully" and was surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Mon...

Glaciers’ melting causing slowing of Earth’s rotationThe melting of glaciers caused by the world’s rising temperatures appears to be causing a slight slowing of the Earth’s rotation in another illustration of the far-reaching impact of global climate change, a study in the journal of Science Advances said. The driving force behind the modest but discernible changes in the Earth’s rotation measured by satellites and astronomical methods is a global sea level rise fueled by an influx of meltwater ...

US power grid vulnerable to foreign hacksSAN JOSE, Calif. — Security researcher Brian Wallace was on the trail of hackers who had snatched a California university’s housing files when he stumbled into a larger nightmare: Cyberattackers had opened a pathway into the networks running the United States power grid. Digital clues pointed to Iranian hackers. And Wallace found that they had already taken passwords, as well as engineering drawings of dozens of power plants, at least one with...

Carter seeks new ways to battle Islamic StateBAGHDAD — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday he came away from meetings with Iraqi leaders with no agreement on the use of Apache attack helicopters or additional military advisers in the battle to retake the key city of Ramadi from Islamic State militants. But he said the U.S. was ready to provide such support if the Iraqis asked. Speaking to reporters after meetings with Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and others, Carter said th...

Now comes the tough part: The world's carbon diet startsPARIS (AP) — The world is about to go on a carbon diet. It won't be easy — or cheap. Nearly 200 nations across the world on Saturday approved a first-of-its-kind universal agreement to wean Earth off fossil fuels and slow global warming, patting themselves on the back for showing such resolve. On Sunday morning, like for many first day dieters, the reality sets in. The numbers — like calorie limits and hours needed in the gym — are daunting. H...

Angela Merkel named Time's Person of the YearNEW YORK (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named Time's Person of the Year, praised Wednesday by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis. Time also cited Merkel's strong response to "Vladimir Putin's creeping theft of Ukraine" and on its cover called her "Chancellor of the Free World." "Not once or twice but three times there has been reason to wonder this year whether Europe co...